[Elecraft] K2 vs K3

[Jim Brown]

On 7/23/2026 1:54 PM, Steve Hall via Elecraft wrote:
> Unfortunately, at the price you get the K2 with 100 Watts and SSB, you may
> as well get a K3s.

And the K3 and K3S are FAR, FAR better radios. The K2, a very nice QRP 
CW rig, was also fine with the added 100W amp and tuner. It was only 
adequate on SSB, which was an afterthought, both as a transmitter and 
receiver. On SSB, the RX was fine when at full bandwidth through the TX 
filter, but the massive phase distortion generated by re-aligning the RX 
filters for narrower RX bandwidth seriously degraded speech 
intelligibility.

Wayne had learned a LOT in the decade or so between when the K2 and K3 
were designed, and by then, there were far more powerful tools at prices 
compatible with hams pocketbooks, and for designs that weren't feasible 
for kit builders.

The great things about the K2 are that it allowed thousands of hams to 
build a quality rig, and it built a great company that was able to give 
us state of the art rigs that have been the choice of serious HF 
operators for 18 years! It also established a wonderful new way to 
interact with customers, with interactive on-line communication of user 
needs and desires, on-line support, direct sales that eliminate the 
middleman, and factory repair service.

73, Jim K9YC